Wrap: right, not much time to hang around this afternoon but again we've been treated to an outstanding race. Huge level of excitement and a great result for Red Bull. Couple of talking points for the rest of the week and McLaren must be scratching their heads at the moment wondering what they can do to turn their season around. That said, Button did well to secure a point having started from 16th on the grid. The other talking point has got to be Maldonado and the comments Perez made after his race was ended by the Venezuelan. Is he too dangerous? I think perhaps he is too inexperienced to drive the way he does at times. I do agree that the stewards should be doing more, Maldonado was very lucky in my opinion to get away with the time penalty in Valencia while other were handed grid penalties. For anyone still reading, thanks for sticking with me to this point, I appreciate the tennis is also on....on that note it's 4-4 in the first set if you're interested. You can keep up to date with Murray's date with destiny on this live blog

Lewis Hamilton struggling to smile:

We have to have a balance and I don’t think that’s and because I was in the lead at one point but after that we didn’t have the pace. We thought we were going to do better. We’re a long way behind Red Bull.

Beaming smile from Mark Webber on the podium after winning in what is essentially his back garden. It's his third win her in four years and means he closes in on Alonso at the top of the driver standings. Boy the Australian anthem is long isn't it? Celebrating with the champagne and love that Webber and Vettel have just drenched the podium girls, hillarious. Jackie Stewart now joins the drivers and he too is drenched in bubbles.

Christian Horner speaking about Webber's race and very much avoiding confirming whether or not this will guarantee him a new contract:

It was a flat out race, we knew we had to be quick at the end and the strategy worked well. The pass in the end was fantastic. Mark this year’s been I great form, he had a good winter and he’s enjoying his driving. It’s a fantastic result for us. Mark’s made very good passing move this year it was great, it’s tricky, but he’s got it. Mark’s doing a great job for us wee love having him in the team, we’ve agreed to sit down over the next few weeks."

1433 Hamilton entertaining with the fans and is doing some donuts in front of them on the track.

1432 Huge apologies I was under the impression that Kobayashi had retired...in fact he did finish the race in 11th. So very sorry about that, he did run his garage team over though I am sure I saw that.

Don't want to brag but this is the first thing I have got right this week!

Lap 51 and there's a let off for Massa there as Raikkonen was just getting into the DRS zone to make the move and he goes way wide and off the track. Button now challenging as Senna deals with Hulkenberg great duel between the Force India and the Williams and it's the Force India that loses out now and Button is in the points!

Lap 50 Raikkonen now showing great pace and has Massa in his sights. Massa beng told he needs to use more power, "come on you can do this".

Lap 49 Webber's tyres looks clean and they should be good to go for the next few laps. So Webber leads with Alonso 2nd and Vettel 3rd. Further back Button has still not managed to break into the top 10.

Lap 48 and they almost touch! WEBBER TAKES THE LEAD! Oustanding move from the Red Bull, the crowd are on their feet and boy does he know how to drive this track. Can't resist typing this..."not bad for a No 2 driver." Terrific

Lap 47 Webber having a look if the move is a goer and at the moment he's just that little too far away, need to make a move soon though as the tyres will start giving up on him. Elsewhere Schumacher has made a move and taken a place from Hamilton and now sits 7th.

Lap 46 Webber now in the DRS zone and the gap is just half a second now and Alonso's in trouble and there's traffic ahead.

Lap 45 Webber now just 1.3 seconds off Alonso...could it be? Button's made a move on Senna but the Williams only just holds his place. Great racing going on right now! Alonso's got a heck of a seven laps to drive now.

Top 10: ALO, WEB, VET, MAS, RAI, GRO, HAM ,MSC, HUL, SEN

Lap 43 Schumacher told the gap on Hamilton is down to three seconds so mounting pressure on the McLaren car. Button doing well with Senna and he's looking good to pip him to 10th.

Lap 41-42 Senna told tyres are looking good and he can push as hard as he wants to the end of the race which is not good news for British fans as he is in P10 and Button is behind. One Sauber mechanic has been taken for medical attention after that collision with Kobayashi's car though it is not thought to be a serious injury. Massa, Raikkonen, and Grosjean battling for the fastest time at the moment. Webber closing in on Alonso now and the gap is just over three seconds.

Lap 40 So we still have Alonso out front with Webber and Vettel 2nd and 3rd. Massa is holding 4th place with Raikkonen now up to 5th after Kobayashi is out. Button now fighting to get himself into the points, he's currently sitting 11th

Lap 39 Webber told Alonso will be fast now he has pitted so his best hopes of challenging for the front will be at the end of the race. A McLaren-esque pit-stop form the Mercedes team and they struggle to get the front left tyre on. Very costly but that will work well for Button

Lap 38 leader and second on different tyres so this could be a very interesting 14 laps. Another retirement and Kobayashi's race is over and he's run over three or four of his garage team in coming into the pits.

Lap 37 Webber fastest now with 1:36:13 but the Ferrari is almost 20 seconds in front of the Red Bull. Alonso pits, good stop from Ferrari, they really have been faultless all weekend.

Lap 35 Plenty of drivers now coming in so order's changing up. Vettel told to look after his tyres as he is not going into the pits again. Warned that Alonso still has to run another set of tyres. Hamilton was right, Grosjean is faster, the Frenchman is in front now and it was a very swift overtake in the DRS zone. Massa pits from 2nd.

Lap 34 Schumacher now in trouble in 6th, Kobayashi really putting him under pressure, he goes for the DRS but just misses out on that. Good defending fromt the German. Button flying on his new tyres, let's see what kind of late push we can get from him.

Lap 33 Massa now up to 3rd, what a great race it's been from him so far. Kobayashi and Hulkenberg also in the running for points as things stand. Hamilton on the radio saying "Grosjean is much faster than me". Webber in the pits from 2nd so it's a Ferrari one-two

Lap 31-32 McLarens now racing each other but Hamilton is in front and following him is Grosjean. Elsewhere, Vettel has pitted for the second time, he was 3rd and he leave sin 5th with Schumacher very close behind. Button also in the pits and that could be the end of the days work for the McLaren team.

Lap 30 Hamitlon's taken a place from Rosberg and he's started the climb. That's distracted the Mercedes as he is immediately overtaken by Grosjean.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Tom Cary - Wasn't so long ago Venezuelan was being lauded as a 'proper racer' in Barcelona. Discuss&lt;/noframe&gt;

Lap 29 Hamilton pits again and is back on the hard tyres and making some interesting arm gestures as he leaves the pit. That break then puts his team-mate Button into the top 10. Hamilton told he has Grosjean on his tail and that he will not be stopping again before the race is up.

Lap 28 Alonso just cutting the chicane on the penultimate corner there and he's lucky he came through that so easily. He's 5.8 seconds ahead of Webber in second so comfortable at the moment. Button's climbed a place into 11th.

Lap 26 Schumacher told "target plus 8" I guess that means they'r eadding eight laps to this set of tyres.

Lap 25 Raikkonen running fastest now, he's just clocked a 1:37:3.

Lap 24 Hamilton's taken a place from Schumacher and the Mercedes is struggling for pace. 1-5 Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Massa Raikkonen

Very damning words from Serio Perez on Pastor Maldonado:

Pastor is a driver that doesn’t respect other drivers. I was in front, he should have given me space but he pushed me all the way to the outside. I don’t understand the way he is driving. The last three of four races he has done something. They only give him a drive through; it’s not enough he will never learn. He’s a very dangerous driver. He has no respect that we are risking our lives. The stewards need to do something. He affects many drivers."

Lap 23 Raikkonen being forced to drive a very defensive race at the moment, Hamilton putting him under huge pressure. Behind the McLaren is the Lotus of Grosjean who's done very well to haul himself back into this race.

Lap 22 YES MCLAREN! They successfully undertake the pits top, no shaking of heads, no jacks breaking and no one losing their job just yet! Hamilton emerges in 7th, great work form the team there. Hamilton now going after Raikkonen and Schumacher. Alonso out in front by five seconds and the Red Bulls chase with Webber 2nd and Vettel 3rd

Lap 21 McLaren just came out into the pitlane yet Hamilton has not come in...slightly confused about that, he needs to stop soon or all this hard work will be for nothing. Alonso now pulling out in front.And finally he is in from second

Lap 20 that really was ouststanding to watch! Further back, Webber remains third and there's about four seconds between him and Hamilton in 2nd. Vettel is 4th with Massa behind. Button is way back in 12th and is chasing Senna. De La Rosa and Hamilton the only drivers yet to stop.

Lap 18 Hamilton told he really must push now and not to worry about Alonso behind. He's still not stopped on these tyres, not bad for someone who only 10 laps ago was complaining about his pace. There's less than a second between them and Alonso's making the move on Hamilton for the lead they're almost wheel-to-wheel! Fantastic racing! And Alonso gets the position and reclaims the lead and no! Two corners later Hamilton is back in front and Alonso's having none of it! Splendid racing from the two of them that was outstanding entertainment!

Lap 17 and Button has pitted and gone onto the softer tyre, right what's he got now? Webber fastest out there now with a 1:37:4, he's third behind Alonso and Hamilton. Great battle between Rosberg and Button now for 12th and next up for them is Senna.

Lap 16 Button's just lost his 6th place to Vettel, the Red Bull showing far more speed that the McLaren. Rosberg's having a bit of a shocker this weekend isn't he? And Button really is struggling now he's just been overtaken by Massa, he needs to pits soon

Lap 15 Alonso still driving very well and is 13 seconds out in fron with Hamilton second now that Webber pitted and Ferrari are out for the race leader meaning Hamilton leads

Lap 14 Massa pits from third and Raikkonen's in from 6th so now Button is up to 6th with Senna chasing him. Incident between Perez and Maldonado to be investigated after the race the stewards confirm. Webber pits from second.

Lap 12 Massa has taken the place from Schumacher so the Brazilian is third. Williams call Maldonado in. Maldonado and Perez collide!!!! And that's bad news for the Sauber, it happened just by Brooklands, they hit and both spun buth Maldonado looks to have come through it unscathed. Perez retires

Paul Di Resta on his retirement:

I’m not sure if someone’s hit us or something happened to the tyre. It’s unfortunate but there’s not much your can do. I actually damaged the floor a lot on the way back to the pits. It’s not been a great weekend, hopefully they’ll put on a good race."

Lap 11 Vettel the first of the front runners to pit and it's very well done. He's gone for the harder option tyres and emerges in 14th.

Lap 10 Alonso now over three seconds out in front of this race. Third to 10th is all very tight, Hamilton struggling to hold off Perez and Button is on the radio reporting problems with his rear tyres. Webber told he is doing "alright" and that Schumacher is holding everyone up. Grosjean in the Lotus making moves on Glock to start climbing his way back in.

Lap 9 Schumacher is really doing Webber and Alonso a favour here as the traffic builds behind the third place German. Grosjean still the fastest car our there at the moment, he's just clocked a 1:38:94

Lap 8 Replays also showing that Vettel made contact with Massa at the start but unclear if the car part that flicked off came form the Ferrari or the Red Bull. Hamilton told his pace is the same or as good as everyone in front of him except Alonso.

Lap 7 good race so far for Ferrari they lead and have Massa in fourth who is looking to make a move on Schumacher. Corners seven and 13 Massa is told is where he'll get the best chance of stealing the place. Behind the Brazilian driver is Vettel who's being chased by Raikkonen.

Lap 6 Hamilton on the radio saying he "has no pace" and is struggling to keep up with those in front...well he has different tyres on for one. Alonso fairly comfortable out in front; he's on the hard tyres and leads by 1.8 seconds.

Lap 5 so that's the end of Di Resta's race then, always such a shame on home turf. Grosjean showing great pace at the back, he's now fastest but he's got a fair amount of work to do to get himself back into this race.

Top 10: ALO, WEB, MSC, MAS, VET, MAL, RAI, HAM, SEN, PER

Lap 4 Perez now fastest 1:39:78 and Di Resta's race could well be over he is in the pits for the second time already. looking at the replays of the start and my word Webber and Alonso were lucky they didn't make contact.

Lap 3 Vettel currently fastest man out on the track with a 1:40:820. Massa driving well at copse and making a move on Schumacher but he's held off and he almost loses a place to the man behind him - Vettel. Great driving so far. Looks like there was a little ocntact between the pair and Pastor Maldonado is creeping up on the world champion.

Lap 2 Great battling between Grosjean and Button but it was an amazing move form Kobayashi, as the aformentioned tow fought it out he took both places from them! Button still behind Groshean. Terrible start for Rosberg who is in 15th. Di Resta has pitted and had the tyre changed. Grosjean now in the pits which puts Button 12th

Lap 1 Good start form Button here he’s claimed two places and is up to 14th. Alonso, Webber, Schumacher, Massa Vettel make up front five and it was disastrous for Grosjean he went wide off the track and has slipped out of the top 10

First corner:Great start from Alonso, Webber went straight to the left and they almost touched but the Ferrari edged ahead and it was good from him. Great battle between Vettel and Raikkonen but the German has held position. Paul Di Resta has a puncture on his rear right.

1300 Right then, here we go with round nine, Fernando Alonso on pole with Webber next to him, British interest, Hamilton is 8th, Di Resta 10th and Button 16th. Cars on track and preparing for installation lap. Enjoy! Mercedes now predicting dry race throughout.

Hamilton on hard tyres, Webber on softs

Confirmed: Vitaly Petrov is out of the race. Caterham annouced the news after his engine failed and blew up.

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Caterham F1 Team - Engine failure ends Vitaly's race before it's started. Such a shame as he was very positive about today's race. Time now to focus on Heikki&lt;/noframe&gt;

1252 Now a word from the man sharing the front row with Alonso having finished less than five hundredths of a second behind the Ferrari. Mark Webber

I raced here in '95 for first time so I've been round this track a few times, but it was a tight session today with very mixed conditions. The cars are difficult to handle when it's like that. In every session we went out the times were changing by up to five or six seconds per lap; there was a lot of standing water and aqua planning - I was happy I was competitive when it counted. Alonso put a lap together that was just that sniff better than mine, but I'm not standing here with any regrets about my lap. I'm happy with what I put on the table and front row was what we deserved."

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Tony Fernandes - Going to be a damm tough race as not enough running due to rain&lt;/noframe&gt;

Almost race time, let's remind ourselves how how they start:

How they start:

1st row

Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)

Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull-Renault)

2nd row

Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes-AMG)

Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull-Renault)

3rd row

Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)

Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus-Renault)

4th row

Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams-Renault)

Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

5th row

Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus-Renault)

Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India-Mercedes)

6th row

Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes-AMG)

Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

7th row

Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams-Renault)

Nico H|lkenberg (GER/Force India-Mercedes)

8th row

Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber-Ferrari)

Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes)

9th row

Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber-Ferrari)

Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham-Renault)

10th row

Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham-Renault)

Timo Glock (GER/Marussia-Cosworth)

11th row

Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT-Cosworth)

Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT-Cosworth)

12th row

Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia-Cosworth)

1250 I also tried some of the drinks the drivers consume over the course of a weekend...all designed for their body's needs but SO salty! Here's what Lewis Hamilton said about what he goes through during race time:

During a race you can lose up to 3kg in fluid – a significant percentage of your bodyweight, and that can seriously affect your focus and decision-making abilities in the car. We know that maintaining our hydration is crucial, so I follow a very structured plan both in the lead-up to, and during the race, taking on a total of between 4 and 5 litres of the two formulations over the three days of the Grand Prix weekend."

1248 What do you make of this? IOC President Jacques Rogge has ruled out Formula One as an Olympic sport saying that the games are about athletes, not engines.Rogge is in Silverstone for the British Grand Prix. He says the F1 drivers are "very courageous," but adds that the "concept we are having is the games are about the competition for the athletes, not for equipment. While having a lot of respect, (motorsport) will not be included into the Olympic program."

Andy Holgate, good to hear there's no arguments! Think there'll be plenty of people flicking the channels today! Reports of sun peeking through at Silverstone

"Sat watching the F1. Mrs H sat watching the tennis. If F1 gets boring then I can always switch over. Should have held it in Manchester though. Lovely sunshine today!"

1239 Worrying scenes at the Caterham garage as Vitaly Petrov's car looks to have a fairly serious problem and it's still not 100 per cent if they can fix it before lights out. I'll bring you more on that as it comes in.

1237 So it's currently dry but rain is expected, time for some predicitons? I'm backing Mark Webber for this win this afternoon [I have been terrible with predictions this week] with Alonso and Vettel on the podium. At the start of the week I had backed Grosjean for the podium but after spinning out of qualifying I think it could be a task too far with him starting back in ninth. But, as Canada last season taught us, you never know when the weather's like it has been. Who do you thinkw ill win this afternoon? Email me your predictions.

With the rain stealing the headlines, ruining peoples weekend and causing havoc for the teams and strategists, our man David Coulthard examines where the weekend's race will be won and lost.

The British are notoriously obsessed with the weather, but there is no doubt it is occupying minds this weekend. There were shades of the chaos from years gone by with traffic jams stretching back for miles on the way in — they caught me out and I missed the start of first practice. It’s why I always used to stay in a motorhome on site when I was a driver. Any huge open air event is at the whim of the weather. Hopefully the organisers can cope as we’re expecting over 125,000 on site on Sunday, with 40,000 of them camping overnight. As for the racing, Silverstone is tricky in the wet, with some old sections of tarmac and areas that collect water. It flows left to right in some places and right to left in others. But that’s part of the challenge. Formula One is meant to test drivers over a range of tracks and conditions, so bring it on. I think this is a track where outright pace will be useful. At some places with high tyre wear, strategy has been more important, but at Silverstone I feel track position will be to the fore."

&lt;noframe&gt;Twitter: Scuderia Ferrari - The weather is fine now. No rain around the circuit....&lt;/noframe&gt;

I'm fairly sure that's not how you're meant to go through the security barriers Lewis...

1213 There are some sanctions spilling over from Valencia into today's race for anyone looking at the grid and wondering why Jean Eric Vergne and Kamui Kobayashi are so far back it's because the former was handed a 10-place penalty for banging into the Caterham of Finnish driver Heikki Kovalainen and the latter a five place for tangling with Ferrari's Felipe Massa. There's no such explanation for Button, he just had a 'mare of a session.

1211 I was lucky enough to be invited into meet some of the backroom team at McLaren and talk a little about what the drivers go though, I thought I understood how difficult this sports is but my word they really do put their bodies through a lot don't they! So much science behind it and that's not my strong point but this might explain the pressure they’re under in those cars...well, it'll certainly explain better than I will!Anatomy of a Formula One driver.

1210 So the rain looks likely to be hanging around for the race but let's have a closer look at the grid and it's not been a good weekend for McLaren just yet but as Vettel put it yesterday "with this weather even Button could win the race". I was down at Silverstone on Friday with the McLaren team and in all honesty I don't think anyone could have predicted how quali would go given the conditions it was treacherous! What will be interesting is Hamilton lining up next to Maldonado, after what happened in Valencia I imagine the Brit is still mad...could the Venezuelan be the "Massa" of Hamilton's 2012 season!? Further in front is Michael Schumacher who's good form continues after he stood on the podium in Valencia for the first time since his comeback. He starts third on the grid next to compatriot Sebastian Vettel and is excited about the prospect of a wet race:

It didn't look so good before the break in Q2 because my visor was completely misted up and that meant I had some excitement during that lap! But then everything went well in Q3. We were competitive on both the intermediate and wet tyres, so I would welcome more rain tomorrow."

1151 So with Alonso preparing for his 21st career pole he took the time yesterday to dedicate it to Maria de Villota as the Marussia test driver continues to recover from the injuries she sustained in a testing crash. Earlier this week she lost her right eye after hitting the tailgate of a service truck at Duxford Airfield. De Villota remains in a stable but critical state and all week drivers have been sending well wishes her way. Yesterday, Alonso said:

Yes (this pole position is for Maria), she is having some difficult moments, her family as well. We had some terrible news at the beginning of the week from Marussia and anything we do this weekend is for her and hopefully we can give strength to her and her family and we wish her a very good recovery."

11:45 While everyone gets excited about the tennis let's just remember that Britain is hosting one of the greatest sporting events there is this afternoon. Round nine of the 2012 F1 season and we're at Silverstone where the rain has been pouring for days on end, several hundred cars have no doubt been abandoned in the surrounding fields, everyone's worried about a repeat of 2000 and that Bernie will take the race away [no really Bernie this is what we've come to expect of a British summer] and last year's race winner Fernando Alonso is sitting on pole.

The Ferrari driver is the only man on the grid with two wins under his belt this season, a further six drivers have already won, but the Spaniard's achievement in Valencia a fortnight ago means he now has 29 race wins to his name putting him fifth in F1 history behind Michael Schumacher (91), Alain Prost (51), Ayrton Senna (41) and Nigel Mansell (31). Not bad hey for a driver many were writing off towards the end of last season.

While it was a fantastic day for Alonso 12 months ago, it was not as much fun for his team-mate Felipe Massa who was edged out of fourth place by Lewis Hamilton in an incident that became the first of many flash points last season.